Whew... and I thought the Prelims would be easy!

I was wrong. Mainly I have a reviewer to thank for that. He brought to my attention that he felt the last three chapters were TOO MUCH just fighting and not enough work on the relationship development. Admittedly he didn't read the middle of the story, just the beginning and end (current stopping point)... so he didn't get a lot of the explanations; however, he did bring to light a problem with my original plan for the prelims. Originally I was going to just write out the fights... cut them in half... and call it a two chapter deal. Well, now I've decided to go a little bit "truer" to the Anime, and I'm using this time to work on some characterization and relationship development. I think this chapter is hilarious and endearing... but I could be wrong. Warning for this chapter include the following: Cala (if you don't like her, well... she's all up in this), Ame... his part is my adorableness so if that bothers you (sorry... well not really), and LANGUAGE. There is more language in this chapter than the rest of the story combined (I do believe). So... it's not bad, but just a fair warning.

I also started a new Review inscentive: if you review, you get entered in a drawing for a character sketch for this story. Five reviews on this chapter are required for the first drawing, and it increases incrementally. For every five reviews I receive on this chapter, that equals a drawing. So if there are ten reviews I do two drawings, so on and so forth. If you win, you get to pick which character I draw. So... review! Love you all!

Sarai

Naruto: Kurashio
Chapter 14 – Alluvial p. 1

There was palpable sigh of relief the moment Cala's name appeared on the board, and Kitaka was among them. There was no way he was prepared to fight her, and he doubted half the people here wanted to see if they were. Judging from the way nearly every other genin present had visibly relaxed, Cala had everyone on edge… except for a noticeable few. A girl from Iwagakure was watching the shadow team with calculated interest; she looked almost disappointed that Cala's name had been called already. The large, tanned boy from the Lightning Team also looked disappointed, but he actually pushed off the wall, no longer looking bored. Then there was the boy from Suna, the one whom his dad had trained. He looked from Cala, to the girl she challenging, and then back to Cala with hardly veiled boredom… and then there was Jira.

Jira appeared anything but relieved. His brow was knitted together and his eyes darted about as if he were worried or anxious. Kit couldn't understand what would be making him so nervous, but he didn't get the chance to ask before Naruto spoke again.

"Alright… I guess it's time to get things started," the blond jonin chuckled.

"Where exactly are we expected to fight?" Cala asked suddenly, raising her hand after the fact.

"Right!" Naruto smacked a fist into his other hand, "I should have probably moved everyone into the arena." Kit tried to keep himself from smiling at his careless parent, but it was almost impossible in most cases. Naruto was just too gung-ho, oblivious when distracted.

"Everyone, follow me," Naruto pointed to another pair of large golden doors, identical to the ones they had entered through. Without any effort he swung the doors open, revealing a large sparring area carved into the valley. It was huge, and along the upper levels of the cliff face, several viewing platforms and observation boxes had been carved into the mountain side. The entire facility had been concealed by the tower and the mountain, and if he hadn't made it this far, Kit would have never known it existed.

"Alright… combatants to the arena floor," Naruto directed them to the middle path that led straight down. "The rest of you… find a place to watch while you wait your turn," he then pointed to a left and right path which branched off from the main one. Kit assumed these must lead to the observation areas.

The genin started to separate, some going right while others went left. Kit decided to follow Jira and his team, going right. Off in the distance, he noticed several clouds of smoke off plume into existence which revealed the Hokage, Kakashi and the other Jonin… and his dad! Kit nearly fainted right there when he saw Gaara, but thankfully Kira had noticed and she grabbed him by the arm.

"Geeze, Kit!" she whispered, "Calm down."

"But… my dad…"

"You didn't have a problem with Naruto watching did you?" Kira said, crossing her arms.

"No," Kit said firmly.

"Then Gaara isn't any different," she smacked him upside the head and then continued walking, leaving the redhead to stand there with his own issues.

"He he," Sainō giggled, coming up beside him, "At least she didn't smack me this time!"

Kit rubbed the side of his head, "Yah… I'm real lucky."

"The stinging goes away in a few hours," the brunette smiled reassuringly, "Eventually you build up an immunity! It only lasts a few minutes for me now!"

With a nod, Kit continued walking until he found the place where Jira's team had stopped. Jira, Hana, and Chino were all grouped on the right side of the observation box, which was odd because there was easily enough space for three or four genin teams up her… and that's when he noticed who was standing at the other side of the space. Mavrí was leaning against the earthen wall, and her doll-like companion was perched on the ledge like a laced-clad, carrion bird.

"What are they doing here?" Kit accidentally said aloud.

Mavrí turned and regarded him with deep, maroon eyes, "You're the boy from earlier…"

"Oh, it's the midget!" Eira said hopping up and doing a spin on the ledge to get a better look at him. Kit hoped silently that she would fall. "Too bad you couldn't have fought Cala," the Lolita whined, "That would have been real fun to watch…"

"If any of you touches Kit," Jira warned.

"We do not intend to cause trouble," Mavrí reassured, "I just know that Mistress Cala will want a good view of the remaining matches… this is the best spot."

"And if we're lucky," Eira chimed in, "We might get to catch some of the little bits that go splitter splatter! Ha ha!"

"Sick!" Hana growled, moving as if to engage the small girl, but she was halted by Jira.

"I admit," Mavrí frowned, "Eira's demeanor can be distasteful at times… but it is her more desirable state."

"Compared to what?" Kira raised an eyebrow, looking oddly like her father form a moment.

"To her anger," the tribal girl's tone was ominous. If she meant to explain further, Mavrí gave no indication, merely she turned her attentions to the arena below.

While he had no desire to be anywhere near the Shadow genin, Kit had little choice, and his best bet for surviving any possible encounter with them would be to watch them fight. He'd already seen the three of them in action once, but that wouldn't be enough to save him… this was a rare opportunity to watch Cala without the fear of death if she discovered him.

Kit swallowed his rising fear and walked up to the shelf of rock which provided the necessary safety precautions to keep people from falling out of the box—and which Eira was currently waltzing up and down. He reached the ledge and placed his hands on it, innately aware that he was much closer to Mavrí than he felt comfortable with.

"On the steps…"

It took Kit a moment to realize that it was Mavrí who had spoken, and that she was speaking to him. "What?" he managed to whisper out.

"What you did out there on the steps," she elaborated, "It was… incredibly foolish."

Kit frowned and hung his head, "Yeah, well… she shouldn't have bullied everyone."

"This exam," the girl said sternly, looking as if she were trying very carefully for the right words, "It is not a playground… Cala—Mistress Cala—is not a bully."

"She didn't have to kill anyone!" Kit snapped. He was getting angry for no reason, it wasn't like he could do anything about it, "I'm sorry… but what she did… was wrong."

"Maybe…" Mavrí said thoughtfully, "But you must understand… your training, and ours, is not the same… as is the way of the other villages. The people you will face outside of this village… they are not going to be kind, and you would be unwise to provoke those who are stronger than you."

He wanted to argue with her, but for some reason Mavrí was sounding a little too logical for Kit to be a stubborn as he normally would have, and, for yet another inexplicable reason, she didn't sound so completely insane as he thought all the Shadow genin to be.

"Cala's really strong isn't she," Kit's voice was serious.

"Yes," Mavrí nodded. She looked down to see Kit hanging his head. "But…" she continued, "I haven't seen anyone pull a trick on her like you did… so you must have some talent as well."

Kit cracked a smile, "You know? You're really bad at lying."

Mavrí frowned, "I… don't see much use for it."

"You're a ninja… but you don't like lying?" Kit was shocked.

"I am not a ninja," Mavrí said sharply.

"But…"

"In the Majokage's village my people are labeled such," she continued without letting him interrupt, "But we are not trained as you are trained. We are guardians, protectors… warriors made to do one task for the entirety of our existence."

"What?" Kit asked quietly. He was almost rendered breathless by the intensity and dedication in her voice.

"Her," Mavrí pointed down to Cala, "My existence is to protect her."

Looking down at the arena, it was apparent that the combatants had already arrived. Kit could see Cala standing on one side and her opponent on the other side. Naruto was standing atop a rather large stone podium away from the relative fight area, but Kit knew he could be anywhere in the arena in an instant if it was necessary.

"You may want to get down there to protect here then," Jira spoke up from the other side, "Because Omoi is going to tear your friend a new one."

"You know her?" Kit asked at the same time as several of the other genin.

"Yeah," Jira blushed slightly, "We met on my first mission… and she's, uh… kinda the reason I decided to start using senbon."

"Heh," Hana elbowed Jira in the ribs, "Someone's got a crush."

"More of an admiration of her skills," Jira smirked, easily blocking Hana's elbow.

"It won't even be a match," Mavrí said stonily, "If you have any care for your friend… you'll tell her to withdraw before she gets hurt."

Jira's face tightened with concern, "She's the daughter of the Mizukage… I doubt your teammate will beat her so easily."

"You know very little then," Mavrí regarded Jira with a look of pity before turning her back to him and the others. It was obvious that the conversation had ended.

[Cala Warukuto VS. Omoi Terumi]

She was itching for a fight. Cala was still irritated about how the situation on the steps had been handled, how she had been made a fool of… twice.

Things needed to be fixed, rectified. The people observing need to know that she was still something to be feared, that they needed to abandon a sense of hope and come at her only with skill… with the pure, unbridled need to survive. That ferocity, that knowledge of knowing that your life was at stake—was what brought out a person's true potential, showing them if they could stand and fight or if they would roll over and die like the mongrels they appeared to be.

She needed to prove to them that this was their ultimate test; otherwise the Majokage would not get her desired results.

Cala needed to do these things, yet… this was the match they had given her? Out of all the potentials… she had been paired with none of them. It was insulting. Her opponent wasn't in the same league as some of the other genin here. Cala stared at her adversary, taking in her every moment while she waited for the idiotic blonde to call a start to the match.

The girl had auburn hair, tied up in a long ponytail which was kept together with several senbon needles. Aside from these visible weapons, Cala could tell she was well armed. There were dozens of these needles all over her body, and a vast quantity inside of the long sleeves of her half-kimono. The girl also had two kunai holders, one strapped to each thigh, so it was obvious that she specialized in ranged combat and most likely ranged jutsu. Cala instantly knew her attack strategy—this would be over quickly.

The girl across from her looked calm, but under the surface she was nervous. Cala could tell—little things about her posture, the way her eyes would dart up to her teammates, they gave her away. It was a shame that she had such obvious tells. If she were this easy to read before the combat started, she would practically telegraph her every move… how boring.

"Are the combatants ready?" the blond proctor called out.

Cala nodded, and she received a similar nod from her opponent.

"Begin!"

Before the word had even died upon the winds, the girl from the water village released a flurry of senbon needles towards Cala—except she was no longer standing in that spot. She vanished in a blur, and the needles clattered off rock. The girl was obviously surprised at Cala's speed, but she it took no time off her recovery.

More senbon were let loose, but Cala merely dodged again. The third volley followed much closer, but still yielded the same results.

Cala frowned. She had expected more than this… surely the girl could see that this wasn't working?

There was a shrill whistle, and Cala looked up to see a hail of needles raining down upon her from the sky.

How intriguing. The girl must have been controlling them with her chakra, releasing some senbon into the air while at the same time trying to keep Cala occupied with pointless attacks… but this would yield no different outcome.

The needles fell and Cala turned into a spinning blur of dark shapes, like a dancing shadow whipping in and out as the projectiles fell around and away from her but never struck a target. Her footwork was a frenzy of hasty movements, but each dash and every dodge brought her closer and closer to her opponent, and Cala doubted if the girl was even recognizing it.

The auburn haired kunoichi abandoned slow precision and went at Cala with a relentless fervor, firing a stream of projectiles which were obviously meant to drive her back; but Cala merely stepped around each senbon, each kunai, getting closer to the girl with each move. There was panic in the genin's eyes at this point and the girl dashed backwards, flinging a senbon directly for Cala's face.

Cala's head snapped to the side, an effortless dodge. In the fraction of time it took for the thin, metallic needle to pass by her ear, Cala decided to end it… there was no fun to be had with this match—this girl lacked the necessary creativity.

Her hand shot up, and Cala trapped the flying projectile between her fingers, quickly flinging the senbon back at its owner. The thing barb hissed through the air like an angry stinger and embedded itself in the other girl's forehead.

The auburn haired girl dropped to her knees, eyes widened with astonishment as a small trickle of blood worked its way in to the corner of her eye… and then she collapsed to the dirt.

The blonde proctor was by the girl's side in an instant, shouting for the medical ninja waiting on the sidelines, but Cala knew it would be pointless. The girl was dead—sad but true.

This exercise truly had been a waste of time.

"You didn't have to kill her!" the proctor shouted from where he was crouched by the girl.

He knew. Maybe he wasn't so much of an idiot after all? Cala turn her head slightly, barely regarding him at all, "And she didn't have to fight." Cala had nothing more to say on the matter. The water genin's death had been of her own choosing; Cala had merely been the instrument of her destruction.

Not wanting to waste anymore more time, she turned to locate her own companions. Cala spotted them up in one of the observation areas and kicked off from the ground. Her leap carried her through the air in an instant, and she alighted just underneath the overhang, atop the ledge of the viewing box. She looked down with mild surprise to see the redheaded midget. "…Kitaka," she reminded herself.

Cala let out a small smile, but felt no need to say anything. She dropped down into the box and walked to Mavrí's other side, peering down at the commotion it took to remove one pathetic corpse from the arena. These people truly did make such a fuss over death.

"You…." A ragged voice choked through the silence.

Cala turned to see that the long, blonde haired boy was also in the box—how intriguing.

"I'm going to kill you," he seethed, his tone almost feral with its rage.

"I doubt you'll be able to follow through with that threat," Cala said icily, "But we'll see… I'd worry about myself for the time being." She nodded down to the arena, where the large display screen had the next match determined…

[Jira Uzumaki Vs. Kowa Reta]

Jira was furious. He was depressed… and he was mourning—worst of all he had no time to deal with any of it as he stormed down the path towards the arena floor.

That girl… Cala… the shadow genin… monster.

Did she really feel nothing? Was it so easy for her to kill that she didn't even take pause to consider the life that she'd ended? True, Jira had no place to talk. He'd killed before and he knew he would kill again… he'd kill her without hesitation, but he never made the decision lightly—not if he could help it.

He'd seen horrific scenes in missions, and his team had come across monstrous people who killed for money, power, drugs… but he'd never seen someone who just killed because it was… easy.

Jira could think of no other reason why Cala would make that decision otherwise, and from what he'd heard from Kit… these Shadow genin had killed everyone they came across. Would he have to watch another person he cared about die in this exam? Could it be prevented?

Omoi…

She'd always been kinds to him. Of course they'd only met a few times, but he'd liked her and considered her a friend. The few times his team had to pass through Kirigakure, Jira had stopped by to see her… she'd even given him his first set of senbon needles.

"Because you liked them…" she had said, "I noticed…"

What was he supposed to do? He really hadn't known her well enough to go making threats of revenge… and from what he had seen, Cala would probably be able to do the exact same thing to him were he to attack her. He couldn't win, not now, and this thought only made him angrier.

Was he just supposed to forget? Was Cala going to get away with all this… murder, just because of an exam?

"You know you look like a girl right?" Omoi scoffed.
"And you act like a boy," Jira frowned.
"Ah… well, tabun watashi wa," she whispered and shrugged.
"What's that?" Jira growled. He hated it when she spoke their village's language and not the inner-village dialect.
"My secret…" she winked

Jira watched as the image of Omoi vanished from his mind… or from the path… he couldn't quite tell, but he knew one thing—this was driving him crazy. He shook his head, blonde locks flailing wildly as he tried to clear his thoughts. He couldn't go into the match if he was distracted like this.

"Hey…"

Jira heard the soft voice, and he froze. Surely he wasn't hallucinating again so soon?

"Jira!" the voice said more sternly this time, and a pair of hands spun him around till he was face-to -face with a worried looking Ame.

"Oh…" Jira breathed, "It's you."

"Of course it's me," Ame raised an eyebrow. He could tell something was wrong, "Are you alright, Jira?"

"Yes," the blonde snapped, then instantly regretted it, "No… I don't know!"

"Obviously you're not," the taller boy frowned.

"Of course I'm not!" Jira growled, "That… bitch! She just killed Omoi and no one is doing a damn thing bout it!"

"She also killed dozens of other genin in the second exam," Ame said sternly, "Do you think you're the only person confused and hurt because of her actions?"

"Why is no one doing something about it thought?" Jira shouted, grabbing Ame by the front of his kimono, "Tell me that!"

"I don't know!" the other boy snapped back, "I wish I knew! But we all knew the risks when we entered the exam, and I'm fairly certain all the other genin did too, even Omoi!"

"Don't!" Jira snarled, slamming his friend into the rocky wall of the path, "Don't give me the exam as an excuse! That's not good enough!"

"What do you want me to say, Jira?" Ame asked. He looked hurt and sad… but Jira couldn't understand why.

"I want… I want to know… what am I supposed to do?"

Ame looked at him sympathetically, "There's nothing you can do. I know that you and Omoi were friends… and I know what her death means to you, not only as a friend but to your skills as well."

"It's not like that," Jira growled.

"It is!" Ame countered, grabbing Jira's face with a pale hand and forced the blonde to look him in the eye, "Her death means you aren't invincible like you think… that someone out there can make your skills look childish… and you're scared."

Jira clenched his fist, aware in the back of his mind that he was actually about to hit Ame.

"Tell me I'm wrong!" Ame said, not even bothering to resist.

They stay that way, frozen for who knew how long… Jira with his fist pulled back, pinning Ame against the rock with the other. The pale haired boy just stood there, resigned, looking at Jira with hurt, violet eyes. When he actually looked back at Ame, not glaring—not dwelling on what had happened, Jira faltered.

"I…" the blonde let go, loosening his grip; his head fell dejectedly upon Ame's chest, "You're not wrong…"

Ame hugged him, and it wasn't one of his playful, inappropriate hugs which were designed to make Jira feel uncomfortable; in fact it was just the opposite. Jira felt everything just melt away, and in that small moment he felt calm again. He was actually scared to move, afraid that if he did everything might instantly revert back to that frightening scene a moment ago, where he was about to completely snap.

"Oh, god… I almost hit you!" Jira moaned, "I'm sorry…"

"Hush," Ame chuckled, "You hit like a girl anyway."

"I'm going to beat the shit out of you," Jira growled, but speaking into Ame's chest made it muffled, which of course made his voice sound odd, which inevitably lead to Ame laughing at him.

"I've taken worse," the pale haired boy assured him, "Now what about you? Are you ok to go out there?"

Jira thought for a moment and then nodded, "Yeah… I'll be alright."

"Good," Ame smiled, "Cause if you don't hurry you're going to be disqualified and your opponent looks like a pushover."

[…]

Jira dashed out onto the arena floor just as they had started a countdown to his disqualification. He panted slightly, more out of relief, and waved to his dad. Naruto looked just as relieved to see him and gave Jira thumbs up.

"Are the combatants ready?"

Jira took a look at his opponent and saw that Ame hadn't been lying. The guy standing across from him looked like an egg… not an egg head, but an egg. He was oddly shaped, fat but kind of pin-headed… and he was bald, not shaved—bald. He looked like if you were to poke him; then he would roll over and be unable to get up. Jira smirked at the mental image.

"Ready," he called out.

"Heh," the other boy smashed his fists together, "I'ma mop the ground with you pretty boy."

Jira frowned, but readied himself anyways, preparing the Byakugan.

"Begin!"

Jira dashed from his spot and pulled out several crimson senbon as he flew forward, dashing under his larger opponent's guard. He jabbed twice with each hand—left shoulder, right shoulder, spinning around to strike at the right hip and spinning again to strike the left hip, then dashing back several paces before standing upright.

His opponent stood there looking at him with a ferocious grimace, but didn't move. Jira held out a hand and smirked, his eyes glistening with the pale sheen of the Byakugan's all-seeing might.

"Having a little trouble moving?" Jira asked.

"Grr… what did you do to me?" the earth genin growled.

"Pressure spots in the major joints," Jira explained, "You'll be unable to move for several hours. And now…" Jira glanced toward the observation box where his team was and made eye contact with Cala. She was watching him with unwavering attention, and he thought he saw something different in her eyes, like they were almost glowing.

"Focus," he told himself. There was a fight to finish. Jira brought up his other hand and formed a ninjutsu sign for wind, which summoned forth a huge, turbulent gust, which ripped across the arena floor, kicking up dust and pebbles as it rocketed towards the his larger opponent. The blast of air knocked the earth genin head-over-heels until he came to a stop, lying flat on his back—paralyzed and knocked down. Match point.

It had been even better than the mental image.

Jira smirked and crossed his arms, looking up at his dad. Naruto was smiling with approval and also a bit of excitement, which mean he probably wanted to see Jira do that move again. His dad was sometimes more of a kid than his students.

"And the match goes to Jira Uzumaki!

[…]

"That was impressive," Mavrí commented.

"Heh! You haven't seen anything," Hana sneered at the taller girl, "Jira's the best genin in this exam… and he's gonna kill all three of your asses back to your little hidden village.

"I doubt so," Cala muttered, more to herself than those gathered around her.

"Didja see it!" Eira chortled, "The boy sticks pointy things into 'em… like voodoo dolls! Maybe he'd like to… play?" She giggled evilly.

"I did see," Cala muttered, "He is… different. He has imagination."

"Who? Jira?" Hana chuckled, "He's about as imaginative as homework… I mean seriously, all he does is practice over-and-over… same thing every day. He never does anything imaginative! Dude's a stick in the mud most days?"

"Loudmouth," Cala snapped, glaring at Hana, "What's your name?"

"Hana, what's it to you?"

"No reason in particular," Cala smirked, "I just look forward to watching you get your ass kicked. You annoy me greatly."

Hana looked down at the board and groaned, "Great…"

[Hanawai Hyūga VS. Kōzui Hidari]

Kōzui Hidari was the best genin that Kirigakure had seen in years, or at least that's what he had heard his teacher telling someone. Once he had heard that praise, it of course went immediately to his head. He'd since then continued proving himself to be the best, challenging all the other genin and winning by any means necessary.

Despite his narciscism and penchant for cheating, Kōzui had indeed learned several effective fightning techniques, even if they were a bit dirty, which is why his classmates had took to calling him "the trickster"…

Whether he was rigging the battlefield to toying with his opponents footing… as a ninja Kōzui could be considered nothing if not effective.

However, ever since he had entered these exams, he'd been seeing genin that—by all rights—outclassed him in every aspect. The trio of Shadow genin for example—Kōzui didn't want to face off against any of them. All he had to do was make it to the tournament and he was bound to become a Chunin.

It wasn't like he could rig the prelim matches as he had the others, so Kōzui had been sweating every since his name came up on the board. His opponent was from the leaf village… all of their genin were supposed to be really tough. He had the most rotten luck—or so he thought. That was until his opponent walked out into the arena.

It was some short, scruffy haired girl… she looked to be about two years younger than him, and she looked nervous too. Kōzui would have giggled at his fortune, but he had a reputation to keep… all he had to do was knock out a little girl and his future was home free.

[…]

Sleezeball…

Slimy, greasy, conniving, disgusting, oily, creepy…

All of these words were which flitted across her mind as Hana looked at her opponent. He was tall, thin, and he wore a standard genin outfit with a leather bomber jacket apparently to make himself look cool. Hana thought he looked like a douche bag with his oily, black hair all slicked back and his pale face. She thought for a second he was wearing eye-liner but it was just the heavy lids of his eyes creating shadows.

The dude was cree-pay!

Hana shuddered; Ying and Yang mimicked the gesture.

"You guys don't like him either?"

Both squirrels shook their heads: "No."

"Me neither," Hana squared her shoulders and walked out onto the arena, "But we gotta do this."

She waved timidly at her uncle Naruto, who gave her a wink, and then she turned to face her creepy opposition. The boy smiled at her, except it looked more like an "I'm going to kill you and rape your corpse" type smile than an actual smile.

"Must be his girl fetching face," Hana muttered, "Think we should knock it off?"

Both squirrels nodded and laughed, which was more of a high pitched chitter, but Hana knew what it was.

"Combatants ready?" Naruto called out.

"Yep," Hana smirked, holding her hands out so that Ying and Yang could crawl into each one respectively.

"Ready and waiting," the guy chuckled popping his knuckles.

"Begin!'

Hana was about to throw Ying and Yang into action when she was suddenly slammed backwards.

The world got really wet, and her clothes were soaked. Hana quickly realized that she wasn't able to breath as she hit the ground with her back. She sputtered, coughing up water and Ying landed besider her looking more like a drowned rat than a squirrel; Yang on the other hand had avoided the attack and was laughing at his brother.

Hana got to her feet and readied herself, looking for her opponent, when something wrapped itself around her foot and whipped her into the air. She went spinning and struggled to right herself in mid-air, so as to land on her feet, but several other things latched onto her other foot and both of her wrists. She was held there, suspended in the air by… water!

The boy was holding up both his hands, smirking, "You got really unlucky to have to fight me. Now that I've got you in my Water Rope Bindings… it's over. Why don't you just give up?"

This arrogant, prick was getting on her nerves, and Hana knew he had the upper hand. In fact, he was so confident that he had the upper hand that the dirt bag looked like he wanted to toy with her. It would be very painful if he did; she also knew nothing about this jutsu… so it wasn't a very good situation to be in.

"Remember, Hana… those Hyugas have a really bad weakness. You get them at range and their eyes are pretty much useless. That's when you're going to be happy you're an Inuzuka!"

"Dad! Get off!" she squealed.

"Just remember… nothing is more annoying than an Inuzuka's defiance. You got me?"

Hana smirked, knowing that she probably only had one shot of winning this. "Why don't you eat my shorts?" she shouted, "That looks like it's right up your alley!"

The boy glared at her, a vein popping out in his forehead, "Why you…" He retaliated, blasting her with another stream of water, which sent Hana flying into the area wall.

The impact hurt… it really hurt. Hana felt her should pop, probably dislocated… but if it wasn't, damn did it hurt. She couldn't help crying out in pain. Before she could even get to her feet, Hana felt herself lifted into the air again—apparently the water binding hadn't broken with his other attack.

"Seriously," the sleaze shouted, "I don't enjoy beating up girls…"

"Heh…" Hana coughed, grimacing in pain, "That's probably what you do for fun. You look like a pussy."

Her dad had taught her that word... and this fighting tactic. Insult your opponent; they get angry; then you attack. As the next jet of water slammed her to the ground, Hana figured it had to start working pretty soon… otherwise she might not make it through the next attack conscious.

"What kind of girl are you!" the boy shouted, "Who talks like that?"

"Obviously you're a mama's boy," Hana chuckled, spitting out blood, "Cause if pussy offends you… then your really aren't going to like it when I call you a limp-dick, mother fuc—"

She was interrupted by another blast of water, but this wasn't as accurate as the others. It hit her shoulder, knocking her to the ground, but she was able to gain her footing. Ying and Yang both rushed to touch her hands and before the creep could put his jutsu on her again… Hana pulled off one of her own, "Animal Mimicry – Triple Souls!"

A great cloud of pale, black and white smoke engulfed her, hiding her from view. It would only last for a few seconds, but it would be enough to pull off a trick of her own. Looking to her left and right, Hana saw two exact copies of herself, both Ying and Yang winked at her. Seriously, Hana was shocked every time she did this, because the only way to tell them apart was their eye lashes. Ying had white eyelashes, Yang had black… opposite of their fur color, and of course Hana's were brown, but from a distance you couldn't even see it. Up close it was hard to determine—and if Hana got in close, well… she had the Gentle Fist.

It would be over.

She high-fived her doppelgangers and the three of them exploded out of the smoke cloud, landing around their creeper enemy. He looked at the three of them in confusion, as if unable to know which one to attack.

"Clones?"

"Ha ha ha," the trio said in unison, Hana's voice mimicked in two different tones, "Nope… you ready to become a girl?"

She dropped into a familiar kata, "Gentle Fist technique: Triple Nutcracker!"

Hana dashed forward, slamming a kick to the boy's groin and using the full force of that kick to backflip over Ying and Yang as they dashed in—both of them slamming their fists into the exact… same… spot. The jumped backwards, looking very much like squirrels as they landed on Hana's left and right, hanging on her shoulders with their hands and striking the cutest pose they could muster.

The boy's eyes were bugged out, and he was holding his crotch as if it would make it feel better. Not a chance… he'd be a girl for several hours—or his whole life if the gentle fist castrated him, which Hana really hoped for.

The genin boy let out a small, weak: "Ooh… mommy…" and then fell backwards.

Hana smiled, pleased with herself at her victory… despite the soreness in her shoulder, back, and ribs. She probably looked like a mess, but the cheering from her section up in the observation box, and she thought she heard Ame and Gemma as well… that was enough to make her fight through the pain without whining. Now if she could only jump up to their box like Cala had—she'd be set.

[…]

Sadly she couldn't jump three feet, much less all the way up to their box, so Hana was forced to trek all the way back up the path. When she finally made it back to their spot, she was nearly crushed by hugs from Jira and the other.

"Ow, ow! Watch the ribs… and the arm," Hana groaned, "Crap! Just don't touch me. Everything hurts!"

"You were awesome down there!" Kit beamed, "We were real worried for a minute."

"Worried?" Hana asked, "About me? Don't be stupid."

"No…" Cala muttered, "They can leave that job to you."

"Listen bitch!" Hana growled, "If you don't want me to beat the hell out of you, then shut your face."

"You wouldn't stand a chance girl," Cala yawned, "You're nowhere near a match for Mavrí, and you'd have to go through her to get to me…"

"If I proved anything down there, it's that you arrogance assholes should be a little more cautious!"

"The only thing you proved," Cala snipped coldly, "Is that you know how to take advantage of an idiot… or that your annoyance can make anyone suffer brain damage. I haven't decided which."

"Why you!" Hana staggered forward, but had to be caught by Jira and Kit.

"Just… why don't you have a seat, Hana?" Jira said carefully, not wanting to direct Hana's wrath upon himself, "You'll need your full strength to kick her ass you know?"

"Hmph," Hana crossed her arms and allowed them to carry her over to the corner to sit down, "Fine! They saved your life, bitch!"

"I'm sure…" Cala turned her back and looked toward the tournament board.

"I can't see," Hana griped, "Who's up next?"

The room was quiet, until finally Saino spoke, "…me."

Seeing the fear upon the boy's face, she pulled herself up to her feet to see why everyone was so gloomy. What she saw wasn't good. The large, intimidating boy from the Lightning genin team was walking from the other side of the observation decks, down to the arena. He was easily twice Saino's size and probably an inch taller than Mavrí, he was ripped with lean muscle, gorgeous as hell… and he had two large swords strapped to his back. All this… against poor, nymph-like Saino.

The boy was screwed.

Hana read the match aloud, as if someone might tell her she was reading it wrong…

Banme Denki VS. Saino Kokoko

~A/N~

Some notes about guest character names (and by guest characters I mean the genin I created to pad this exam):

- Omoi Terumi is the child of Mei Terumi, the Mizukage. Her name came about when I was playing with words that mean Heavy Rain (nothing to do with the video game of the same name). Her name actually means "heavy" in japanese. She's not fat, but I just thought it was an interesting and beautiful word. Her full name is actually Omio Gōu Terumi, which means Heavy Downpour. As for the japanese she whispers in his flash back... well, bonus entry into the drawn for anyone who can comment correctly on what it means.

- Kowa Reta means "broken" and it's actually the kanji cut in half to make his name as the full kanji reads "kowareta". Pretty nifty huh? Broken=broken word. Not only that but he looks like an egg. Humpty dumpty anyone? ;) I'm such a smart cookie.

- Kōzui Hidari - his name actually means "Left Flood" which is convoluted, but basically is means a flood of things coming out of left field, or at least it does in my mind. Take it as you will.